Let the Games Begin
by Shinystorm
Summary: When Athena and her friend Dalin get chosen for the Hunger Games, she thinks that nothing could be worse. She soon comes to realize that it will get much worse. It's hard to fight someone you care about.
1. Chapter 1

It is an absolutely beautiful day, a sharp contrast to the events that were to take place later.

Today was the day of the reaping for the 78th Hunger Games.

I tumble off of my thin mattress, barely catching myself before hitting the worn wood of the floor. I hear my mother bustling about, trying to figure out a way to make a breakfast of our pathetic supply of food: a coarse loaf of bread and an apple that I had taken from the Meadow, a spot outside of the fence encircling District 12.

"Athena time to wake up!" she chirps with false brightness as she walks into the tiny, closet like space that is my bedroom. She's trying to cover up the fact that she's as nervous as I am.

I groggily drag myself through the door and into the kitchen, eyeing the sliced pieces of grainy bread sitting on a clay plate at the table. I sit down, still not really interested in my breakfast. Normally, I was ravenous in the morning. In the Seam, everyone is. We have to live off of meager grain rations given to us by our government.

And even though many of us starve to death each day, the officials find a way to pass it off as something else: disease, old age (as if any of us live to really be considered "old"), anything they can think of to keep it from looking like they're starving the citizens of District 12.

"Where's Dad?" I ask. Normally, he would've gotten up before the sun to head off to the mines, where he worked all day in dangerous conditions and still didn't make enough money to feed us. But since it was Reaping Day, no one was working.

"Hunting," Mom replies. My father had somehow managed to get a hold of a bow, some arrows, and a good hunting knife a few years back, and would wake up hours before work and sneak through the fence around District 12 that was supposed to be electrified, but rarely was. The man who had given him the weapons taught him how to hunt and forage, which made my family slightly better fed than other Seam families. But hunting was very illegal, so if my father were to be caught, he would be killed immediately.

"Hmm," I say, taking a bite from my bread and chewing. "Maybe I should go, too. He could probably use my help…" My father had taught me how to hunt and find edible plants, but I still wasn't nearly as good as him. He rarely took me hunting anyway, partially due to my mother nearly driving herself insane with worry every time we went, even though security was very lax around here.

"Not today, honey."

I sigh and continue eating my breakfast and drink the water my mother brings me. I suddenly realize that my little brother, Alvi, hasn't been seen or heard since I woke.

"Where's Alvi?"

Mom hesitates for a moment. "Well, he's about the age you were when your father first started taking you to the woods…"

"What? He gets to go hunting today and I don't?" I say, feeling betrayed. My father would take my little brother but not me?

"Well, today is reaping day, and we need to get you cleaned up and make you look nice…"

I was seventeen, so I had my name entered to be drawn for the Hunger Games. Because the reaping was televised and broadcasted to every citizen in Panem, everyone got all cleaned up and dressed up for the cameras. I groaned.

An hour later I had taken a bath and put on one my few dresses: a purple thing that hit right above my knee. I hated it.

My mother was standing behind me, brushing my shining black hair until it was completely smooth. My black hair was the only thing I had in common with the rest of my family and most of the Seam. I had fair skin and bright green eyes, where most Seam residents had olive-toned skin and grey eyes.

The front door opened and my father and brother stepped in, my father with a dead squirrel in his hand.

"We managed to catch this," he said in his deep, booming bass.

"Yeah, I can't believe it! My first time and we caught something!" Alvi said, thrilled.

"Oh, wonderful!" my mother said. "Now, you two get cleaned up. We have to be at the Square at one."

At one o'clock, my family walks to the Square, where all of 12 is required to gather unless they are on their deathbed. All of the twelve- through eighteen-year-olds are in roped areas organized by age. Family members are around the perimeter, praying that their children or siblings won't be chosen. All around us there are cameras, perched on rooftops, right next to us, and up on stage.

My brother, only eleven, is standing with my parents, lost somewhere in the crowd. I'm glad I won't have to worry about him this year, but I dread next year, when his name will be in the huge glass ball with a thousand others names, with a chance of being pulled out and read in Effie Trinket's ridiculous Capitol accent.

I look around me at the others of my age group, seeing some that I know from school and briefly making eye contact with them. Will one of them be chosen as a tribute? Will they have any chance of surviving?

I continue examining the crowd and see the face of my only friend, Millie Dagret. I make my way through the crowd and stand next to her. I have plenty of acquaintances, people I talk to in school. But only one real friend, someone who I can really talk to. I grab her hand and squeeze it.

On stage are Mayor Undersee, Effie Trinket, with her hair a lavender bob, and Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, the winning tributes of the 74th Hunger Games. Somehow, even though the Games would allow only one tribute to win, they had both managed to get out alive.

Mayor Undersee steps up to the podium and begins to read the history of the Games.

Panem came to be when it rose up in the ruins of what was North America. It had a Capitol surrounded by thirteen districts that brought peace and prosperity to everyone. Then, there was an uprising of the districts against the Capitol, which became known as the Dark Days. Districts 1 through 12 were defeated, and 13 completely obliterated, as could be seen in the footage shown every year of the ruins.

As a reminder that we were all completely at the mercy of the Capitol, we were given the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games aren't hard to understand. Every year, each district has to provide a girl and boy tribute. The twenty-four tributes are taken away, where they will be imprisoned in a outdoor arena, which could be anything from desert to a frozen wasteland. The tributes would fight to the death over a course of several weeks, and the last one alive wins. The winner would have a life of ease back in their district, with a house in the Victors' Village, plenty of food, and the rest of the district would be given prizes, most of them food.

Then the mayor starts on the list of 12's past victors. We have had four, and the three still alive are Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss Everdeen, and Peeta Mellark. Katniss and Peeta will be the mentors for this year's tributes.

After being introduced by Mayor Undersee, Effie Trinket bounds up to the podium and says, "Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" as she has done for as long as she's had this job. She then proceeds to blabber about how great it is to be here and what an honor it is, and manages to sound a little less sarcastic about it than usual. Then it's time for the drawing.

" Ladies first!" she says, following the same script she always does. She reaches into the big glass ball with a thousand girls' names on tiny slips of paper. Everyone is silent as she digs around for a second, then pulls out a piece of paper. She walks over to the podium, smoothes the paper, and reads in a loud, clear voice, " Athena Drales."

I feel the blood drain from my face. No, no, _no! _That can't be right! I must've heard her wrong.

But as I look around, I find everyone looking at me,_ me_, and I struggle to draw in a shaky breath. I square my shoulders and clench my fists, and walk with leaden steps to the stage. I climb the steps and turn to face the crowd. I find my mother's face in the mass of people. Her face is not only bloodless, but a little green. I look away, afraid I might cry. I will not give the other tributes who will be seeing this tonight the satisfaction of seeing me cry, of having a name put on the list of people to weak to even worry about. Instead, I decide to shut off all emotion and not feel anything.

"Alrighty!" Effie Trills, " It's time for our male tribute!"

She strides across the stage to the glass ball with the boys' names in it and pulls out a slip of paper. She walks back to the podium and reads " Dalin Goodling."

I watch him walk up to the stage and take his place next to me. I can see he is also struggling to keep his face emotionless. I can't believe that, out of all the guys in District 12 that could be chosen to be put in the arena with me, it had to be him. As I said before, I didn't have a lot of friends. But he was almost one. We had all of our classes together this year and he sat by me in most of them. We talked a lot and worked on many assignments together, and I liked him. He was nice, always polite and respectful, and funny, too. I couldn't believe we were going to have to fight each other to stay alive.

Today, the odds were most definitely _not_ in my favor.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as the reaping ceremony ends, Dalin and I are herded by a group of Peacekeepers into the Justice Building. We are each taken to separate rooms for the hour we're given to say goodbye to our family and friends.

First in are my mother, father, and brother. My mother's face is red and puffy from crying, as is my brother's. My father has unshed tears glimmering in his eyes. They all know I probably won't survive.

My brother darts over to me and throws his arms around my neck and snuggles into my lap, sobbing like a little kid in need of his mommy. I rub circles into his back, trying to soothe him.

"Hey, it's alright. I'll be fine," I try to assure him.

"N-no you won't," he hiccups, "You'll go in there and die, just like everyone else does."

"I might not. I might make it back. Katniss and Peeta did, right? If they can, so can I," I say, trying to keep myself from breaking down as well. Tears would make me look weak. I could cry later, when I was alone.

He just sobs harder, clinging onto me for dear life. I look up at my parents, who come and sit down on either side of me. I lean into my father, who put his arm around me. We just sit there like that for a few minutes, my family crying and me trying to hold back my emotions. Eventually, there would be too much and the dam holding them all back would overflow.

I sit up and blink back the tears threatening to overflow. "I will do my very best to stay alive. But if I don't, please don't let that ruin your lives. You have to stay strong. Don't let the Capitol break you." They nod slowly.

Then a Peacekeeper is at the door signaling our time is up, after what feels like only a minute. We stand and they hug me, telling me they love me and not to give up. I tell them I love them, then bend down and pick up my brother, surprised to realize how big he is.

"You've got to be strong, okay? For me?" he nods, wiping tears from his face. "This will all be okay."

"You have to come back. I need you," he says, and it breaks my heart.

I wish I could tell him I will, but in my heart, I know I won't. I can't promise him that, only to tear him apart when I don't. But still, I don't want to be the one who crushes the little hope he has. "I'll try. I love you," I say, putting him down.

The Peacekeeper comes over and unkindly tells them it's time to go, and ushers them out the door.

"We love you!" is the last thing I hear them say, as the door is slammed shut on their voices.

I flop onto the velvet couch and bury my face in the pillow until Millie comes in. I sit up and she rushes to me and I throw my arms around her.

"I can't believe this! This is so unfair!" she says. She would say more, but there are microphones all over this place, and if she's heard saying "treasonous" things against the Capitol, they would come after her. Heck, for all I know, they'll be mad over her complaining about the unfairness of it all.

"I know," I say, "It almost doesn't feel real. It's like I'm going to wake up any second now from a terrible nightmare."

The sympathetic look on her face says otherwise.

We spend the rest of our time reminiscing about everything from the time we met in a fight over something stupid that neither of us could remember, to a few weeks ago when I tripped and did a face plant into my lunch tray. By the end of it we were both sniffling and about to full on cry.

The Peacekeeper comes back in and tells her it's time to leave.

"Remember, you will always be my best friend and I love you. I'll be waiting for you to come home." she says, taking me by the shoulders and pulling me into a huge hug before she leaves the room.

I'm left alone for the next half hour to try to face the fact that I'm going to die, soon. Turns out, I'm not taking it very well. I can't accept the fact that I'm going to die. I _won't._

At the train station, there are tons of cameras and reporters, all focused on me and Dalin as we board the train that will take us to the Capitol. I should be sad, shocked, scared, any number of things, but I find that I only feel numb, and I'm glad. What chance would I have of getting sponsors if they saw me weeping and terrified?

The doors finally slide shut and the train starts forward. We are each shown to our own rooms and told to be ready for dinner in about an hour.

I use this time to explore the fancy things in our rooms. I have a private bathroom with hot and cold running water and a shower, and a dressing area with more fine clothing in it than anyone in our district has even seen.

I decide to take a shower, and spend more time reveling in how good it feels than actually getting clean. When I get out I dress in a knee-length skirt and a black T-shirt, then I walk around the room, looking at various things, until Effie comes to get me for supper.

She takes me to a dining room, where Peeta, Katniss, and Dalin are all waiting for me to join them, making polite conversation. I take the empty seat next to Dalin, and looking at the table I see fancy dishes that look like they'll break if you touch them.

Dinner comes in course after course, and I eat so much that I think I'll explode. But the thing is, I've never had enough to eat. Never. Neither have most people in District 12. But when people die of starvation, the Peacekeepers brush it off as something else. Disease, beatings, you name it. If it can kill someone, it's probably been used as an excuse. It would make the Capitol look bad if their citizens found out they were starving people to death.

After we've finished stuffing ourselves to the point of sickness, we get to experience the joys of watching the reapings across Panem. In some of the other districts, winning the Games is such an honor that people actually _volunteer_ as tributes. Idiots. But that's why Districts 1 and 2 both have volunteers for both slots, and 3 has one girl volunteer. District 1 has a manly looking girl tribute and a strong, well muscled boy, who both look equally viscous. District 3 has a girl who is drop-dead gorgeous, with long blond hair and intense green eyes. A monstrous boy from 6, who looks like he could kick down a tree without any effort at all. A tiny little girl from 10, who came from the 17 year-old section. Those are the only ones that really caught my eye. Then our district's reaping pops up.

"Athena Drales!" I see the TV me's face go white as a sheet, and I'm worried that I'm going to faint, which is ridiculous because I already knew I wasn't going to. I watched myself walk up onstage with my mouth set in a grim line, no longer portraying any emotion. I watched the shock register briefly on both of our faces as Dalin walks up to take his place next to me. Then the anthem plays and it's over, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I hear him do the same next to me.

We all disperse to our rooms for a good night's rest, as if I could sleep, knowing what awaits. About an hour later, I hear a knock. I bolt upright, ready to flee, as the door eases open and Dalin sticks his head in. I let out a sigh of relief. Relief from what, I don't know. My nightmares, maybe?

"Can I come in?" he asks quietly. I nod, welcoming a distraction from reality.

"What's up?" I ask.

He shrugs. "I just don't want to be alone."

"Oh." I completely understand what he means. In a world where kids are sent off to mutilate each other, the company of a friend that you trust can be the most comforting thing in the world, aside from not having to participate in the mutilation.

I stiffen, as I realize that we will soon be in that arena, fighting each other to live, where trust is a risk I can't afford to take. I decide to push that thought from my mind for now and enjoy a break from life with my friend.

He suddenly meets my eyes. "Will you stay with me in the arena? I need someone I can rely on. You're my friend, and I trust you. Also, I don't think I'd be able to kill you, even if I wanted to. And I really don't want to," he added with a grin that made girls melt back home.

I hesitate a second, wondering if he's only saying that so I'll trust him and he can kill me. But I decide that he probably wouldn't, at least not at first. It looks bad to kill someone from your own district. I slowly nod, deciding that I won't place my full trust in him and just keep my guard up.

"Thank-you," he says with a relieved smile that's so open and trusting that I find myself smiling back.

He stays in my room the rest of the night, talking to me and making jokes that have me laughing so hard that I have tears making trails down my face. And I have to admit, it feels great to have a friend that is going to be with me through all of this.

At least, I hope so.


End file.
